Disclaimer: By now, you get the idea... :)

A/N: Alright, show of shipper hands, who's ready to send that playboy lawyer they threw at us in "Bridging the Gulf" right back to the ship from whence he came? ME! ME! I say we introduce him to the blonde chick from last week and let them run off together - anyone with me there? I knew going in I wasn't gonna like him, and I didn't! It's already evident he wants to get Mac between the sheets, and as if that ain't bad enough, next week has them working together again, argh!

Ah, well, enough venting about the "real world of JAG", here are a few notes about my story: for my purposes in this chapter, Singer isn't dead. As far as what counts as being full-term in pregnancy, here's they way my docs have always explained to me: pregnancy is "typically" 40 weeks long, however any baby born from 36 weeks gestation on is considered full-term, and anything past 40 weeks is considered overdue.

Enjoy!

Chapter 33:

"Hey babe" said Harm as he took Mac in his arms, "don't cry. It's nothing to get upset over."

"Yes it is, Harm!" insisted Mac as she continued to cry. They were in the exam room at Dr. Mianni's office, having just finished with their 40-week appointment. "I'm due in four days and I'm not dilated at all! Do you know what this means?"

"No" said Harm compassionately. "What does it mean?"

"It means I'm not even close to having this baby, that's what it means!" exclaimed Mac.

"Oh babe, now you know that's not true" said Harm. "You're very close to having this baby, it just might be a little bit later than we'd like it to be is all."

"I'm tired of being pregnant!" screamed Mac. "I just wanna have this baby!" She buried her face in Harm's chest and sobbed.

"Hey, hey, look at me" he said after giving her a moment to get her emotions out. "You've only got a few more days at most. Remember, the doctor said if the baby doesn't decide to come before the 19th , she'll induce your labor."

"That's 10 days away" said Mac, calming down a little. "I'll go crazy before then."

"No you won't, babe" said Harm, smiling gently. "I won't let that happen."

"Colonel, I'm surprised to see you here!" exclaimed Harriet as she walked past Mac's office the morning of September 12.

"I'm surprised to be here, Harriet" said Mac, "but we saw the doctor last Friday and she said I wasn't dilated at all yet, and nothing even remotely 'labor-ish' happened over the weekend, so I figured I may as well come in and get some work done."

"Good idea, ma'am" said Harriet. "It'll keep your mind off of things, plus it sure beats sitting at home waiting to go into labor."

"That's what I was thinking" said Mac, "it'll also allow me to save an extra day or two of leave for after the baby comes."

"Well, let me know if there's anything I can do for you" said Harriet.

"You're still planning to be in the delivery room with us, right?" asked Mac.

"Oh, you bet!" exclaimed Harriet. "I've got the arrangements for my kids all taken care of, and Bud knows that when I get the call, I'm gone."

"Good" said Mac, "I'm sure you'll be able to help me in ways nobody else will!"

"I'll do my best, ma'am!" said Harriet. "I should get back to work. If you need me, you know where to find me."

"Thanks, Harriet" said Mac. She read over another half page of the file she was working on before realizing she had to pee for the 4th time since arriving at work.

"I so will not miss this…" she muttered to herself as she headed for the bathroom. She stopped by the kitchen on her way back for a bottle of water, and ran into Harm.

"I thought you had an arsenal of snacks and drinks in your desk drawer" he joked with a big smile on his face.

"I used to" replied Mac as she opened the bottle and took a big drink, "but they're gone and since I hope to be gone myself soon, I didn't bother replacing them. What are you working on today?"

"A simple misconduct case that should have wrapped up already" said Harm, "but instead of accepting my offer - a punitive letter of reprimand and forfeiture of 3 days pay , the defense has chosen to be a colossal pain in my ass and insist on taking it to trial and now we could be in court all week."

"Need I even ask who defense counsel is?" asked Mac.

"Nope." answered Harm. "I'd give you three guesses, but you'd only need one."

"Singer." said Mac in a disgusted tone. "Doesn't she know that you can't be in court all week?"

"Oh, she knows all right" replied Harm, "in fact if I didn't know better I'd think that's why she's being so stupid about this. She's always loved to cause me grief, you know?"

"Who's your second chair?" asked Mac.

"Bud" answered Harm.

"Well, I'll say this much" said Mac, "if you're in court when I finally manage to go into labor, you're leaving and Bud is taking over and if Singer doesn't like it, she can lump it!"

"Don't worry about it, babe" said Harm. "I've already talked with the judge and all involved parties about it. They know that I could be called away and that Bud would then take over the prosecution, and everyone is fine with it."

"I'm glad to hear that" said Mac.

"I better get back" said Harm, "I'm in the middle of mapping things out with Bud."

"OK" said Mac. "Meet me for lunch?"

"Sounds great" said Harm. They exchanged a sweet kiss on the lips before walking back to their offices.

"Ugh, what a long, boring day" said Mac as she walked into Harm's office at the end of the afternoon.

"Amen to that" he replied.

"How'd your case go?" she asked, flopping down in a chair beside his desk.

"So far, so good" he replied, "but that Singer is a real piece of work."

"I don't even wanna know" said Mac.

"Good, 'cause I don't wanna talk about it or even think about it right now" said Harm. "I just wanna take you home and make us some dinner and veg out on the couch."

"I'm ready to go when you are, babe" said Mac.

"Gimme about 5 minutes to finish writing a few notes" he said, "then we're off."

"No problem" said Mac. "I'll just sit here and relax." As Mac was waiting, Harriet popped her head in the door.

"Hey, I guess nothing new today, huh?" said Harriet.

"Not a damn thing" replied Mac.

"Well, it'll happen soon" assured Harriet, "I know that offers you little consolation right now, but try to hang in there."

"I'm doing my best" said Mac. "I'm just dying to see this kid!"

"Oh, I know the feeling" said Harriet. "Believe me, I know!"

"Alright, my love" said Harm as he stood up and gathered this things. "Are we ready?"

"Lead the way, babe" said Mac. Harm offered her a hand to help get up from the chair, and they walked to the elevator together.

"What do you want for dinner?" asked Harm as he rummaged through the fridge.

"What are my choices?" asked Mac, who was already in her pajamas and laying on the couch.

"Well" he said, "there's lasagna, there's leftover Chinese, or I can call out for pizza."

"Pizza" replied Mac.

"The usual?" he asked.

"Mm-hmm" she answered.

"Sounds good to me" said Harm as he reached for the phone and went back into the kitchen to make the call.

"It'll be here in half an hour" he said when he returned to the living room. "Hey, where'd you go?"

"Had to pee" said Mac as she came back down the hallway. "I think that made about 300 times today."

"I'm sorry, babe" he said as she joined him on the couch. "I know you're looking forward to not living in the bathroom."

"I certainly am" said Mac. "I'm looking forward to so many things, but that's definitely up towards the top of the list." They heard the phone ring from across the room, and Harm got up to answer it.

"Hello? Oh, Hi mom. Fine. She's fine. Nope, nothing yet. No, mom, not even a hint of anything, honest. I know, I'll call you as soon as we head to the hospital, I swear. Sure, hang on."

"She wants to talk to you" he said, handing the phone to Mac.

"Hi, Trish" said Mac. "Yes, I'm fine. Really! I feel huge and I'm so ready to get this part over with, but it won't be much longer. He's been great. Yeah, he's really excited, too. Don't worry, I'll make sure he calls you when it's time. OK, give Frank our love, talk to you soon, bye."

"Your mom is so funny" said Mac as she put the phone down.

"How so?" he asked.

"She's just so excited she can't contain herself" said Mac. "She asked us both not to forget to call her when we leave for the hospital, no matter what the clock says. I think it's cute."

"Yeah" said Harm, "she's waited a long time for this, and I'm glad she wants to be such a big part of it."

"Are you sure she's really OK with not being in the delivery room with us?" asked Mac.

"Oh yeah" assured Harm, "she's fine with it. When I talked with her about it months ago, she said that's a special time and a special place and we have every right to have only those people we choose in there with us."

"I'm glad she took it so well" said Mac, "I sure don't want to hurt her feelings, but I just don't want a circus in there."

"I know, babe" said Harm, "I'm with you 100 percent on that one." Just then, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it" said Harm as he grabbed his wallet off the bar. He returned a moment later with the pizza and set the box on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Lemme get us some plates" he said, "you still have a drink or do you need another one?"

"I could use another one" she said, "thanks." By the time Harm came back to the couch with the plates and drinks, Mac had her first slice of pizza halfway eaten.

"I see someone was hungry" he laughed as he sat down beside her and grabbed himself a slice. Mac nodded, her mouth full.

"Tastes really good tonight" she said, "I must have really been hungry for it."

"Yeah, me too" said Harm, grabbing a napkin and wiping the sauce from his mouth. They continued eating in relative silence, once slice after another, until only 2 slices remained.

"You want another one?" asked Harm.

"Nope, I'm full babe" said Mac, leaning back on the couch. "Just stick them in the fridge, I'm sure they'll get eaten."

"Will do" said Harm, and he picked up the box and headed towards the kitchen.

"Anything good on TV tonight?" he asked upon his return.

"I'm not sure" said Mac, "where's the listing?"

"Right here" said Harm, "let's see…hmm….nope, nothing much on."

"Rats" said Mac. I guess we could watch a DVD."

"Sure, which one?" asked Harm.

"Doesn't matter" she said, "you pick." Harm perused the DVD shelf for a moment, and picked out a couple.

"Either of these appeal to you more than the other?" he asked her.

"Not really" she replied. "I'll probably fall asleep halfway through it anyway."

"Tell you what then" said Harm as he put the movies down on the table. "Why don't we call it an early night? After all, we do have to work tomorrow, and once the little one decides to get going and make an appearance, we could be up for a really long time."

"That sounds like a great idea" said Mac wearily. Harm helped her get up from the couch, and she went to get ready for bed while he made sure things were locked up. By the time he finished up and made it to their room, she was already laying in bed. He got undressed, brushed his teeth and crawled into bed beside her.

"I love you" he said, leaning in close to kiss her.

"I love you, too" she said, returning the kiss. She reached out and took his hand in hers and snuggled up with it next to her face. She laid there for a few moments, thinking back over the pregnancy and all they'd been through, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Hey babe?" she said.

"Yeah" replied Harm, clearly not asleep just yet.

"I just thought of something" she said.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Remember a few months ago when you asked Dr. Mianni how far into the pregnancy that having sex would be safe?"

"Mm-hmm" he said.

"Do you remember what she said?" asked Mac.

"She said all the way through" replied Harm.

"What else did she say?" prodded Mac.

Harm thought for a moment before realizing where Mac was going with this line of questioning.

"Mac, are you suggesting we…"

"Yeah" she said, "I mean, why not? It can't hurt anything, and if there's even a chance it'll help me go into labor…"

"Well" said Harm, "if you really want to, you won't hear any complaints outta me."

"Oh, I want to" said Mac as began making little circles with her finger on Harm's bare chest.

"You know what that does to me" he whispered.

"Oh, yeah" replied Mac softly as they rolled towards each other. Their lips met passionately, and as they kissed, Harm slid his hand beneath the covers and began massaging Mac's leg, which she'd wrapped around him.

"Mmmmm… you know… what that does…. to… me" she said in between kisses.

"Oh, yeah" he whispered in her ear. He worked his way up her leg, as he'd done so many times before, caressing each inch of her bare skin. In the midst of it all, they managed to rid themselves of their clothing, a skill they often joked with one another about because neither of them ever seemed to remember taking it off.

"I love you" said Mac, so softly he could barely hear her.

"I love you, too" he replied, his voice equally soft. "I hope this works."

"Me too" whispered Mac as they lost themselves in one another.

A/N: I had this finished before "Bridging the Gulf" aired, and I'm really glad I threw some extra romance in there, because we definitely need it!